Boxing Day And New Year’s Day HUNT meets, 2022/23 Round up

Protests

Many of the Boxing Day and New Years Day Hunt meets were protested. In Chard, protesters stationed themselves at strategic points around the route, collecting evidence of law-breaking in the streets. In Easingwold, protesters were unexpectedly joined by passers-by who grabbed placards to show solidarity. In Bungay, the hunt tried to intimidate a national photo journalist who stood near protesters. In Madron, a protester was assaulted by a hunt member. In Lacock, where there was such violence last year, Wiltshire Police provided a friendly but clear presence and things went smoothy, but a large hole was left in the public purse as the cost (yet to be discovered) was probably astonishing. In Tenterden, sabs managed to position their Land Rover in front of the parade and it was the sabs that led the Ashford Valley and Tickham Hunt out of the town.

Successful Campaigns

Some meets did not happen at all. Pressure from the public led Castle Cary to turn their backs on the deceitful Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt, and requests from the County Council to the hunt to follow the same procedure as everyone else, caused the BSV to flee from Castle Cary and hold their meet on private land.

Grantham Against Bloodsports listed a number of meets that were cancelled:

𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘳 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘉𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘢𝘺, 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘮 – 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥

𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘉𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘢𝘺, 𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥- 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥

𝘊𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘉𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘢𝘺, 𝘖𝘢𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘮 – 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥

𝘊𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘺, 𝘜𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘮 – 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥

𝘔𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘜𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘺- 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥

𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘉𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 Day 𝘈𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘺- 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 

Beaufort Hunt – Tetbury – banned 2018 

Other meets looked very different. Hunts were forced to accept that they must moderate their selfish behaviour somehow. In Camelford, the North Cornwall Hunt who, last year, happily and publicly stopped their horses in disabled slots for 40 mins, had to squash themselves into an area by the Conservative Club (private land) to deliver their speeches. BUT –  they did not have an official road closure, even though they clearly needed one. In Lewes, a meet which has been subject to a great deal of public pressure, the South Down and Errige did in fact close the road, but their meet was less of a pageant and more of an apology.

Attendance by hunt supporters

Protesters reported that hunt support numbers were lower than in previous years. All except Easingwold. There, numbers went up – but it turned out that a coach load of unsuspecting tourists from York were sent to Easingwold for Boxing Day morning. It is unlikely that these tourists knew what they were going to see, as the event (advertised by the coach company) says that it is an “excursion to a well-known Yorkshire village”. No mention of the hunt meet at all. In the local paper, the hunt claimed them as supporters.

The Countryside Alliance declared that 200 hunts held Boxing Day Meets in 2022. However, on their website, they advertised only 86 (some twice). In the 200, they included drag hunts and bloodhound packs, who never hunt live quarry. As we only object to fox hunts, (and not the others), for the CA to claim that attendance at the other 114 meets as “showing support for hunting” is misleading.

Public meets

Hunts managed to meet publicly in some towns. In Somerset, all three hunts who had been subject to Boxing Day campaigns, announced (via Somerset County Council), that they would be holding their meets on private land. This meant that they would avoid the need for a road closure – something SCC was insisting on. A couple of days before this announcement, SCC had said that they would be closing the roads using emergency legislation – but the public was having none of that, and a sharp and successful email campaign by Protect the Wild and AAF, put paid to that scheme. In the end, two of the three hunts met in exactly the same place as they had in previous years, defying the council and making idiots of them all. In Thornbury, the meet of the Berkeley Hunt went ahead as usual, with a road closure. There were a few protesters there, but fortunately the hunt filmed it all for themselves and put it on YouTube, so we can identify breaches of health and safety legislation from the evidence they have kindly supplied.

Public Safety

Public safety, as usual, was not a priority for the hunts at their meets. In Chitterne, the Royal Artillery Hunt provided a generic risk assessment to Chitterne Parish Council – which did not mention the public at all. That Chitterne PC accepted it is astonishing. In Pewsey, the Parish Council did not even glance at the submission detailing the potential risks to public safety (supported by legislation) before granting permission to the Tedworth Hunt to use their carpark. In Easingwold, the hunt completely disregarded all advice from the Safety Advisory Group meeting (SAG), and probably invalidated their insurance. There, a spooked horse knocked over a man carrying a toddler. Protesters all over the country took photos of horses with red ribbons in their tails; these are horses that might kick – horses that should never be taken to a public meet.

Law-breaking

Illegal road blocking was videoed at a number of meets, including Chard, Ottery St Mary, Elham, Tenterden and Maldon. Breaches of the law by riders of quad bikes were seen in many locations, in particular in Camelford and in Tenterden. Many hunts illegally used their own staff to marshal traffic. This happened at Chard, Ottery St Mary and Maldon among other places.  Incompetent riders were ubiquitous – in particular in Madron, where a horse reversed into a family with young children. 

Future Action

AAF and Grantham Against Blood Sports drove most of the campaigns. Our submissions and objections were based on concerns about public safety and the legislation surrounding it. Quite frankly, we really do know what we are doing now, and are confident that we can help anyone with their own campaign. Please contact us if you are interested in challenging a hunt meet in your area. We won’t do it for you – but we will point you in the right direction and continue to help you until you are successful. We will, of course, be continuing our own campains and will not stop until all hunts are kicked out of all towns.

Email Pip on info@actionagainstfoxhunting.org.   

We have photographic and video evidence of everything we have reported here. Please ask, if you would like to see it.

The locations and the hunts are as follows:
Chard, Somerset – Cotley Hunt
Castle Cary, Somerset – Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt
Easingwold, Yorkshire – York and Ainsty South Hunt
Camelford, Cornwall – North Cornwall Hunt
Lewes, Sussex – South Downs and Errige Hunt
Pewsey, Wiltshire – Tedworth Hunt
Chitterne, Wiltshire – Royal Artillery Hunt
Lacock, Wiltshire – Avon Vale Hunt
Tenterden, Kent – Ashford Valley and Tickham Hunt
Elham, Kent – East Kent with West Street
Bungay, Suffolk – Waveney Harriers
Thornbury, Gloucestershire – Berkeley Hunt